Dish Network 5G Internet?

[John2021]

Sub-gigahertz does a better job getting into buildings than the high-band 5G frequencies used by Verizon. They practically require line-of-sight to the antennas.

Of course, everything is up for grabs in the real world. My phone says I have 5G, but do I really? 217 Mbps down and 27.4 Mbps up, not too shabby. I’ll shut up now…

i bet you have the nationwide 5G. i live in one of there ultra wideband areas. i could sit here and watch my phone hit close to 4 GBPS down and 700 mbps up .

 

[k1cza]

I hope Dish is doing it right, and pulling ample fiber to those tower sites as well. I currently have T-Mobile's 5G Home Internet service, but it's so bad I'm about to dump it to go back to DSL.

To be clear, I don't think it's the fault of 5G technology, but it is the fault of 5G hype. I'm able to pull some impressive speed tests - 300 down 60 up - but only at 3am. Trying to video call or stream anything between 4pm and 10pm is pointless. T-Mobile is clearly putting up 5G antennas to claim "most 5G coverage" without actually upgrading the most important part, the backhaul to the tower.

 

[reubenray]

I hope Dish is doing it right, and pulling ample fiber to those tower sites as well. I currently have T-Mobile's 5G Home Internet service, but it's so bad I'm about to dump it to go back to DSL.

To be clear, I don't think it's the fault of 5G technology, but it is the fault of 5G hype. I'm able to pull some impressive speed tests - 300 down 60 up - but only at 3am. Trying to video call or stream anything between 4pm and 10pm is pointless. T-Mobile is clearly putting up 5G antennas to claim "most 5G coverage" without actually upgrading the most important part, the backhaul to the tower.

How does this work? Where does the fiber to the towers come from? It looks like the work is done on the antennas, but I expected them to be higher up the tower than they are.

 

[k1cza]

How does this work? Where does the fiber to the towers come from? It looks like the work is done on the antennas, but I expected them to be higher up the tower than they are.

Buried or pole-mounted overhead fiber service is usually purchased by the carrier and provided by a telecom to the tower site, such as the local phone company. The outside wiring would look like traditional telephone wiring.

Some towers, especially in rural areas where fiber is scarce, are fed using point-to-point microwave radios by another tower which has fiber. If this is occurring, you will see a round microwave dish on the tower in addition to the cell antennas.

Dish is very likely using leased tower sites which already have another cell carrier present. If so, Dish is getting second dibs on the tower, so they may not be able to place their antennas up at the top of the tower.

 

[NYDutch]

Dish is very likely using leased tower sites which already have another cell carrier present. If so, Dish is getting second dibs on the tower, so they may not be able to place their antennas up at the top of the tower.

The tower that was built on our former mountaintop property had AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon on it. When the tower was first erected, Verizon was the first antennas to be installed, and I was surprised when they weren't placed at the top level. The Verizon site supervisor that inspected the installation told me they didn't want the top level because the foot print wouldn't fit their FCC license. AT&T eventually took the top, and Sprint the lowest level. There were 5 microwave antennas, three public service repeaters, and a HAM repeater on the tower as well. Oh, and the tower company installed our OTA antenna on an arm off the tower that held a weather station. Our site lease paid us a flat monthly tower rate plus an additional fee for each service on the tower except for public service and HAM use.

 

[reubenray]

Buried or pole-mounted overhead fiber service is usually purchased by the carrier and provided by a telecom to the tower site, such as the local phone company. The outside wiring would look like traditional telephone wiring.

Some towers, especially in rural areas where fiber is scarce, are fed using point-to-point microwave radios by another tower which has fiber. If this is occurring, you will see a round microwave dish on the tower in addition to the cell antennas.

Dish is very likely using leased tower sites which already have another cell carrier present. If so, Dish is getting second dibs on the tower, so they may not be able to place their antennas up at the top of the tower.

When I first noticed them at the tower there were several utility trucks working on some poles close by. These poles have AT&T and Cox Cable on them.
I read somewhere that the antennas at the top of the pole are for Verizon. Nothing has ever been reported on Cellmapper.

 

[k1cza]

Our site lease paid us a flat monthly tower rate plus an additional fee for each service on the tower except for public service and HAM use.

Thanks for not charging public safety and hams, we appreciate it - and so will you during an emergency With two mega-corporations holding a virtual monopoly on the tower market, our options have become very slim. Most ham repeaters are now at state/local government sites, the town water tower is a popular option.

 

[AZ.]

I hope Dish is doing it right, and pulling ample fiber to those tower sites as well. I currently have T-Mobile's 5G Home Internet service, but it's so bad I'm about to dump it to go back to DSL.

To be clear, I don't think it's the fault of 5G technology, but it is the fault of 5G hype. I'm able to pull some impressive speed tests - 300 down 60 up - but only at 3am. Trying to video call or stream anything between 4pm and 10pm is pointless. T-Mobile is clearly putting up 5G antennas to claim "most 5G coverage" without actually upgrading the most important part, the backhaul to the tower.

I was thinking in looking into that home 5G from T-Moble, as I cant even stream a movie on a Sunday night....With my microwave best I can download is 7 to 8..No 4K streaming here

 

[Juan]

Thanks for not charging public safety and hams, we appreciate it - and so will you during an emergency With two mega-corporations holding a virtual monopoly on the tower market, our options have become very slim. Most ham repeaters are now at state/local government sites, the town water tower is a popular option.

Verizon and Att sold off their towers years ago...they just lease like everyone else now

 

[NashGuy]

I hope Dish is doing it right, and pulling ample fiber to those tower sites as well. I currently have T-Mobile's 5G Home Internet service, but it's so bad I'm about to dump it to go back to DSL.

To be clear, I don't think it's the fault of 5G technology, but it is the fault of 5G hype. I'm able to pull some impressive speed tests - 300 down 60 up - but only at 3am. Trying to video call or stream anything between 4pm and 10pm is pointless. T-Mobile is clearly putting up 5G antennas to claim "most 5G coverage" without actually upgrading the most important part, the backhaul to the tower.

I've read several different T-Mobile Home customers' personal experiences and they vary widely. I think it's safe to say that the only way to know if it'll be a good solution for you personally is to try it and see how it goes. Too bad it's not a solution for you; definitely looks like T-Mo doesn't have enough bandwidth for your tower given the amount of traffic it gets. I'm pretty sure they prioritize mobile traffic over home traffic. I also thought that they weren't taking sign-ups for Home service in areas where they don't have sufficient bandwidth, although that doesn't appear to be the case for you.

I just recently got a card in my mailbox announcing that Verizon 5G Home service is available in my area. I have no interest in it since I have fiber service. But it'll be interesting to read firsthand reports for that service now that they're rapidly expanding it through the new midband 5G spectrum Verizon is lighting up. I notice that they've dropped the pricing on it to $50/mo to match T-Mobile.

 

[Jim S.]

Verizon and Att sold off their towers years ago...they just lease like everyone else now

I suspect he was referring to Crown Castle and whoever the other one is (American Tower?) when he was talking about the ownership duopoly.

 

[Juan]

I suspect he was referring to Crown Castle and whoever the other one is (American Tower?) when he was talking about the ownership duopoly.

The ones owned by verizon and att?.. lol

 

[NYDutch]

I suspect he was referring to Crown Castle and whoever the other one is (American Tower?) when he was talking about the ownership duopoly.

Crown and American both approached me years ago about leasing a tower site on our mountain after I allowed both of them to do site surveys. American won out with a better offer. One thing that was installed on the site later on was a government owned satellite dish. I never did get any good info on that, and I didn't receive any payment for it since it wasn't installed on the tower. I did make out pretty well on the deal eventually though, when the 15 ft Hughes dish was replaced with a 21 ft dish and the installers replaced my 8 ft C-band dish with the Hughes. Rain fade? What's that...

 

[bowens]

Both are the same thing, just digital packets.

As I said earlier look for a big announcement early this summer.

Have they announced planned coverage areas? Where they will be putting up towers? I'm stuck with fixed wireless now. It's not bad but it's not great either. Starlink is planned for mid 2022 here.

 

[navychop]

We may hear more in May.

 

[reubenray]

I signed up for a Reddit group hoping some more info may come out. I have two orders for Starlink. The original one was pushed back to late 2022. The second one is in my wife's name/email. It has an earlier date of early to mid 2022. The location for it is 2.3 miles away in the country. So now it may be a race between Dish, Starlink and T-Mobile (waiting list). May the best one win.

 

[DishSubLA]

It's common for the next generation of cell service to be in development a decade or more before real word testing begins. And of course there will be some confusion for folks seeing references to "6G" (6 GHz) WiFi versus "6G" (6th Generation) cell service.

6G: What It Is & When to Expect It

6G could be the next big mobile networking standard after 5G. Here's what 6G might look like and how it will be different from 5G.

www.lifewire.com

Yes, that has been true, but the 6G standard is much further along (something like how 6K for TV's--I think it was 6K--was not far at all from being ready, but the investment in 4K (UHD) had already been made, so the TV makers weren't interested, YET).

6G could be achieved in about the same time as reaching true 4G specs (and LTE Advanced specs), but it always boils down to investment by the wireless companies, so the economics won't make sense to set up a 6G network in the USA for some years even though it can be theoretically done a in a few years, but the reality of new bandwidth or converting bandwidth and capable phones is the real barrier, while there are mobile phone chips that can meet the true 4G specs.

In fact, the plan for the wireless companies it to convert 3G band to the 4G/LTE network, so 4G/LTE (with perhaps reaching its true top specifications that would result in a 5G-like experience). And yes, the confusion of all the numbers of G and WiFi 6 and you name it is an excellent point that you brought up. What a mess letters and numbers.

 

[DishSubLA]

I signed up for a Reddit group hoping some more info may come out. I have two orders for Starlink. The original one was pushed back to late 2022. The second one is in my wife's name/email. It has an earlier date of early to mid 2022. The location for it is 2.3 miles away in the country. So now it may be a race between Dish, Starlink and T-Mobile (waiting list). May the best one win.

Well stated. My beef is not that Starlink is bad (it is still a Beta product, but consumers still expect an Alpha experience), but that the Musk products are always "oversold" with LOFTY promises and claims, when the reality is below those dreams and needs to satisfy Wall Street--not the consumer, and that creates some consumer dissatisfaction. Musk properties would be better off making closer to realistic goals, but that would not get the hype and press coverage or bump up the stock price. The problem is this oversell has been a consistent tactic of Musk products, and even rational, fair (not fanboys) supporters of Musk can't help but make valid complaints, but still hope for the best.

 

[Foxbat]

SpaceX is not a publicly-traded company, so I don’t understand your comments about bumping up stock prices. And “Alpha” is typically the first phase of a project and generally unusable, “Beta” is usable but with undiscovered “bugs” that a larger equipment set will uncover.

As a customer, I hope I never have an Alpha experience!

 

[tanman]

Well stated. My beef is not that Starlink is bad (it is still a Beta product, but consumers still expect an Alpha experience), but that the Musk products are always "oversold" with LOFTY promises and claims, when the reality is below those dreams and needs to satisfy Wall Street--not the consumer, and that creates some consumer dissatisfaction. Musk properties would be better off making closer to realistic goals, but that would not get the hype and press coverage or bump up the stock price. The problem is this oversell has been a consistent tactic of Musk products, and even rational, fair (not fanboys) supporters of Musk can't help but make valid complaints, but still hope for the best.

According to this article(and others) Starlink Website Nixes 'Beta' Wording, Warns Chip Shortage Is Delaying Orders. Starlink came out of Beta October 2021.Also note the speeds most customers are getting are above the original promised specs.
I am not a Musk fan boy but I do object to the billions of dollars that are being thrown at the telcos and cable companies to extend their lines to customers they should have run to in the first place.At a cost of minimum $5000/customer.And then they get the monthly revenue!
Of course if it's mentioned that 500<5000 then "but it's evil Musk" cause Comcast and Spectrum etc are such good corporations.Rant off